Ryan woke in the middle of yet another forest clearing. After he signed the contract with Luris, he fell asleep "at the table". He surmised, and was correct in his guess, that he was on Aurora. It relieved him that he hadn't needed to experience brain trauma again to make the trip. He looked around, taking stock in his surroundings.

  He was in a glade surrounded by oak trees on all sides. It seemed to be about mid day, based on the position of the sun. He could hear birds and the wind through the trees, but no sounds of civilization. He couldn't hear the running or rumbling of water either, which was unfortunate. He'd need to drink. He got up and walked around the glade a little, to get his bearings and find a source of water or shelter.

  After walking the entire outer circle of the glen, he found no traces of water, though he did find several bushes that grew berries. He didn't recognize the blue and purple mottle berries, so he decided to stay away from them unless the situation became dire. He knew that he needed to get through the rule of three to survive in the wilderness with no compass and no map; he needed shelter, water, and food, in that order. Since it was noon, as he'd earlier observed, he had no time to waste.

  Ryan strode out into the forest, deciding to build his shelter on the edge of the clearing. He was looking for deadfall that he could use as the main frame for a lean-to shelter. He soon came upon a downed pine of appropriate length. He grabbed it by the roots in an attempt to drag it back to his base camp, but found it still had some in the dirt. Looking around for a solution, he noticed a broken branch. It was roughly the length of his shin and had a pointed end. He tested it in his hands and found that it was fresh, and had not dry-rotted through. He took it over to the pine tree and began using it to dig at the roots, to free them from the earth so he could move it. About five minutes later, he was successful. As he took the tree again, and began to drag it back to his base camp, a green box flashed in his field of vision. He stumbled backwards, surprised. Swatting across his vision, the green box disappeared, replaced with an envelope icon. The icon blinked in the corner of his left eye as he caught his breath.

  "This must be what Luris was showing me. I must have done something to receive a game notification." He swiped at the blinking icon and the green message box reappeared in his field of view.

  Ryan swiped the icon away and finished dragging his tree trunk to base camp. When he arrived, he set up the tree against another tree and began layering it with other sticks and leaves to keep out the wind and rain. Satisfied with his shelter, and night fast approaching, he crawled onto the bed of pine boughs he'd snapped from some saplings and pulled up his status screen.

  He sighed. Well, his status was pretty good if he remembered anything from his only time playing DnD. He seemed strong, agile, and could take a punch with those attributes, but his WIS and INT...They sucked. He wanted to be able to do magic well, but it seems Luris had rolled him something else. He didn't imagine she'd give him a losing hand, so he figured he'd have to make do with what he got. Tomorrow he'd need to find water, and food, if he wasn't going to let her down. With that thought on his mind, he went to sleep.

  Waking up in a glen is a nice experience, but Ryan was feeling trapped in a groundhog day style loop. He'd been in the forest for almost 10 days now, going by the log calendar he hashed each morning. He'd found a small stream on the second day, and there were cattail like plants around a beaver looking pond below it. He'd eaten some of their roots, after testing it on his skin, and had found them "potato-ey". He'd stripped the stalks and reeds and wove them into rope, then set about improving his shelter. The lean-to was bigger now, and incorporated a chimney and a small hearth. He'd used the twine to make a bow-drill fire starter. He'd also made some traps using the twine as a noose. Around the fifth day, he found some rocks and sharpened them on each other to make a hand axe. That led to him lashing a bedframe to get him off the ground, as well as attempting a fish trap. That was what he was going to check this morning.

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  He walked down to the beaverpond and pulled the fish trap up to see if anything had floated down the stream. Along the way, he'd checked one of his snares and found a rabbit looking creature. That would be his third one. The fish trap had two panfish looking things in it, so he grabbed them out and put them in his "backpack", really a second fish trap with shoulder straps, and reset the trap. As he reset the trap, a notification appeared:

  He frowned. So he could earn skils through repetition? But how did he know what to repeat to get the skill? A note flashed in his field of view:

  He selected "Y" and had to sit down as a massive skill tree opened before him. Most of the thing was grey, and he couldn't see through it. A small section wasn't and he zoomed in on it. Part of a larger section called "Natural Skills", the unobstructed portion was "Trapping". The Trapping tree seemed to be pretty large, from what he could see in the haze. It got clearer as he approached his unlocked skill and thicker as he scrolled away from it. Looking at Trapping LVL 1, he could also select LVL2, so he did.

  He closed the skill tree. Interesting. But he didn't know how to build a medium trap, so how could he complete that part of the requirement? He began his walk back to base camp, considering how he could build a medium trap.

  While he occupied his mind designing medium traps (large snares? Bigger rock falls?) he kept his hands busy cleaning fish. He would take the guts back to bait his snares and fish trap. Once he completed that task, he skinned the rabbits. He finally had enough rabbit fur to make something, so he stretched the hides on his tanning rack near the fire, to let the sun do its work. When he tied the last piece of rabbit onto the rack, a new notification appeared:

  Ryan pulled up the tree and saw a new area illuminated near trapping. He looked up tanning LVL 2.

  Well, that wouldn't be hard at all. He could actually do that if he ran into more rabbits on his trap line. But it was still curious that the only benefit from gaining a skill would be XP. He'd hoped that he would get some sort of deeper knowledge in the area. Like medium trap designs.

  "Ah," thought Ryan, "there it is."

  High above the game board, the players play. Loki looks beyond his partition and turns to face Luris, Goddess of Hunters and Scouts. To her left sits Makkedon, God of Nets and Traps. His fishy smell causes her to wrinkle her nose. She never liked the ocean. Across from her is Bevgile, God of Swords, and around the room sit a few others. Bevgile's skin glistens red, and he sweats in the cool of the game room. She wants to win this game, but it is more important to her to beat Makkedon and Bevgile. They'd been in the room when she last lost, and ribbed her without mercy for it. That's why she'd shown Ryan their champions, "on accident". Loki clears his throat, "Luris, it's your turn. Since your last turn your hero has gained 60 XP and two skills: Trapping and Tanning. What will you do?"

  Makkedon laughs, his deep voice filling the room, "60 XP? What's with you and poor champions, Luris? Do you want to lose?" Bevgile joins in, his high voice like the sound of a kettle, "Yeah, Luris! Make sure he doesn't eat any pies hahaha. " She rolls her eyes and looks down at her cards. Makkedon's champion has already accumulated 130 XP through Fishing and Net Making. Bevgile's is currently the leader at 280 XP, having managed to apprentice himself. To a swordsmith of all things too! Ryan hasn't moved from his summoning location. But she planned for that. Ryan is a woodsman. He knows how to survive, and she placed him in the woods so he could be safe in the early game. Her deck doesn't have the early powerups like the other players. She built a small blessings/big monsters style deck designed to boost her champion during the midgame. But she drew a bad hand. Her starting cards have some less than useful blessings and a few monsters that are beyond Ryan's current capabilities. She's stuck without a good move.

  She places her trembling fingers on a card. She's unsure how this will play out, but she trusts Ryan. He's got the stuff. He can do this. +60 XP in these woods in that short amount of time? Focused on trapping? That's her champion for sure. She plays her card.

  Loki, Game Master and Reserve Champion *The Championship* player, opens his eyes in surprise, then nods in approval. Luris may have a plan, and it might even work.